Once a man, twice a child

The past several weeks have been an emotional roller coaster for me, yet despite the ride, I have tried to maintain a facade of normalcy in all areas of my life. However, as the youngsters like to say shit got real this morning when I woke up to a slew of text messages and voice mails from my brother. Things are officially no longer normal in my world.

As a blogger who no longer muses in relative anonymity, I grapple often with how much of my private life to share. Yet it became clear today that what I am facing while it is most certainly private, it’s something that many of us will face at some point in life…a sick parent.

On some level deep in my being, ever since my mother’s untimely death, I have often wondered what would happen should my Dad get sick. After all, when my mom was sick she had my dad to take care of her and my brother and I played supporting roles as did other family members. However since my mother’s death, the backup cast members have all met their maker and the only people left to play the roles of primary caretakers are me and my brother. The challenge though is that I am 1100 miles away and my brother is still a young man finding his way in the world. Needless to say it creates a problem.

Right now we are trying to navigate the world of getting an increasingly stubborn and aging man to make the right choices. It’s a fine line, as a child even an adult child, you never want to see your own parents as anything less than autonomous beings capable of making their own choices. Yet in the light bulb moments of this morning, it’s become clear for both me and my brother that there is more than a bit of truth in the saying once a man, twice a child.  It’s all part of this marvelous journey we call life. I hope should the day come that I regress back to my own stubborn place of childhood, that my own children will be patient and not give up on me no matter how much resistance I put up.

Please keep the BGIM family in your thoughts and prayers as I suspect we need them all as we journey through this unfamiliar terrain.

 

 

2 thoughts on “Once a man, twice a child”

  1. I’ve been reading your posts for a while and finding them thoughtful–for me, a different perspective on life in Maine. I guess I’m a WGINJ, but more of an old lady, really. This post touched me, because I am in the same situation (except no brother, old or young), although both I and my father are considerably older than you and yours…mine is 102 and lives in Maine, so many miles away from here! I’m a poor excuse for a blogger, but some of my own “sandwich” tales are posted. I wish you only good fortune as you move through the times to come–they are certainly difficult, but they can be rewarding, too.

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